HONOLULU — The Department of Economics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will host a gala fundraising dinner to honor Professor Emeritus Seiji Naya on the occasion of his retirement from the university on Friday, May 21, at the Hawaiʻi Prince Hotel.

Naya‘s service to the university, the state of Hawaiʻi and communities across the Asia-Pacific region, is distinguished and dates back to 1969, when he first joined the faculty of the UH Mānoa Department of Economics.

Until the early 1990s, Naya held various faculty positions at UH Mānoa including director of Asian Studies and chair of the Department of Economics, among others. He was also director of the Resource Systems Institute at the East-West Center. On the state level, Naya held the cabinet-level position of director of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism under Gov. Cayetano. Naya is also author of numerous books and articles, including his most recent publication, "The Asian Development Experience, Overcoming Crises and Adjusting to Change."

Naya is also very involved in the community with his most recent accomplishment, beginning in 2002, of helping to establish and coordinate reciprocal visits by baseball teams from Hawaiʻi and Japan to honor those who perished aboard the Ehime Maru.

"Seiji‘s career has consistently focused on promoting economics education and positioning Hawaiʻi as a leading economic nexus of the Pacific," said UH Mānoa Department of Economics Chair Dr. Sumner La Croix.

La Croix added, "We‘re thrilled to be able to host leading economists, policy-makers, members of government and academia from Hawaiʻi and around the world in a salute to one of our own. His belief that nations in Asia should join together in economic and political cooperation was visionary in the 1970s, and is now a critical factor behind the emergence of free, democratic, high-income societies in 21st-century Asia."

The proceeds from this event will benefit the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation‘s "Seiji Naya Fund" to further his legacy in the field of economics education. The Seiji Naya Fund will award outstanding graduate economics students at UH Mānoa and provide support to assist scholars and others across the Asia-Pacific region to participate in regional and international economics symposiums.

Underwriting support for this event has been made possible by Prudential Locations LLC, A.C. Kobayashi Family Foundation, Central Pacific Bank and other generous organizations. Table sponsorships beginning at $1,500 and individual tickets from $100 are available by contacting Eduardo Hernandez at 956-7296. For more information, visit www.economics.hawaii.edu.